It’s an initiative designed to ease congestion in Newcastle’s rapidly-changing CBD, and save commuters money. From next week, a free bus service will operate from McDonald Jones Stadium to the city centre, every 15 minutes – and that’s not the only change to public transport.

On the eve of one of the world’s spookiest celebrations, Halloween fever has taken hold in parts of the Hunter. It’s a tradition Australians either love or hate – and in one Maitland home, it’s very much loved.

The country’s only operational World War Two Catalina is expected to stay at Rutherford airfield for more than a month, after suffering engine failure yesterday. The seaplane was scheduled to fly over Lake Macquarie’s Catalina Festival, but was instead forced to make an emergency landing. Owned by a museum near Wollongong, the aircraft is in need of significant repairs to its starboard engine. Engineers at Rutherford say it could be four to eight weeks until the Catalina can be flown home. (VISION ONLY)

Hundreds of women have united in Newcastle, the Hunter and Lake Macquarie last night to take a stand against sexual violence and abuse. The Reclaim the Night events are part of a global movement aimed at ending the widespread issue. In Hamilton, women marched the streets protesting for the right to feel safe and free from harassment. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in five women has been the victim of sexual violence. (VISION ONLY)

Maitland Councillors have rejected plans for the community to have its say on whether Morpeth should be heritage listed. It follows a recommendation by the Office of Environment and Heritage, however the majority of councillors fear the status would affect property prices and the ability of home owners to make alterations. Meanwhile, stage one of the $2.9-million state government upgrade of Morpeth bridge is now complete. Stage two, which involves repainting the bridge, will start next year. (VISION ONLY)

Budding film makers have been given the chance to explore their skills at this year’s Real Film Festival in Newcastle. A workshop today by Youtuber Sarah Stone, looked at the new age of digital technology and its influence. “Social media and the film industry they’re both changing at such rapid rates and they’re kind of running parallel so it’s good to bring the two together and show my perspective and my involvement,” Stone says. The three-day festival, featuring a variety of master classes and film screenings, runs until Sunday. “We have a big focus on local this year, and consequently we’re screening a feature film by a local director and the lead talent is a local lady, and we’re also screening 10 short films as part of the short film screening all made locally,” Annette Hubber from Real Film Festival …

Hundreds of Hunter police are threatening industrial action if the state government doesn’t reveal its new policing numbers in the next week. The state’s force is in the midst of a restructure, which could see some local commands forced to merge.

They’re cute, curious and expected to play an important role in their species’ survival. These five-week-old Barking Owls are the first successful hatchlings for Blackbutt Reserve, but they won’t calling Newcastle home for long. “These animals have been removed from the adults and we’re going to hand rear these and then they’ll be donated to other parks around New South Wales for successful follow on breeding,” Petra Freeman from Blackbutt Reserve says. (VISION WITH AUDIO IN PARTS)